Love Unknown
by QueenMilaAshdown
Summary: Hogwarts is in for a surprise when five people who are supposed to be dead arrive upon its doorsteps, beaten down and drained.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hi folks! Trying my hand at a Harry Potter fanfiction! Not _entirely_ sure about British slang and whatnot, so bare with, ka?

**Disclaimer: **Much as I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter and company! They belong to J.K. Rowling, although I do enjoy borrowing them briefly!

* * *

James Potter had very few regrets in life. Looking back, he did admit to being an absolute git to his now loving wife, but she had eventually come round. Once he managed to get his head out of the clouds, that is. There had just been something about the fiery spirit of Lily Evans(now Potter) that had just drawn him in. They had clashed head on upon their first meeting and everything had seemed to go downhill from there. His friends still marveled at the fact that he had _actually_ managed to woo the witch into submission, as his best mate Sirius so kindly put it.

No, the biggest thing that James Potter regretted was the death of his only son sixteen years previous. Peter Pettigrew, a man now dead in James' mind, had betrayed them, resulting in his little boy being killed before Voldemort moved on and attempted to do the same to the Longbottom boy. Alice and Frank Longbottom had stood tall against the Dark Lord, but they had fallen. However, when he had tried to kill Neville, his curse had rebounded and destroyed his body, leaving the child with a scar on his forehead.

Two years later, he and Lily had been blessed with a little girl who was the spitting image of her mother. Rosalie Maria Potter was the light of her parents' eyes but it didn't take away all the pain of the loss of Harry. Every year around October 31, Lily would break down crying about the littlest things and James and Rose had learned to accept that.

Sighing heavily, James shook his head to clear it of the depressing thoughts. The grounds of Hogwarts shown brightly in the spring sunlight and quickly lightened his mood. He strode across the lawn, keen to reach his destination where the love of his life was waiting for him for afternoon tea. A blast of raw magical power from behind accompanied by a powerful gust of wind nearly knocked him off his feet. Whipping around with his wand at the ready, James found himself facing five teens unconscious on the ground. The three boys and two girls looked battered and worn, their clothes obviously having seen better days.

"Bloody hell," he whispered, not entirely sure what to do.

"JAMES GREGORY POTTER!"

He cringed upon hearing not only his wife's angry voice but also the fact that she had used _all three names_, meaning he was in for hell.

"What in Merlin's name did you do-" Lily abruptly choked on the end of her sentence when she found her husband standing there with his wand out and five unconscious children on the ground.

"They just appeared," James managed to get out before she could yell at him more. Lily stood there blinking for a moment before visibly pulling herself together.

"We have to get them to the hospital wing," she instructed, waving her wand and conjuring five stretchers. Together, the couple maneuvered the unconscious people onto the stretchers and hurriedly brought them to the hospital wing. Lily stayed and explained what little she could to Madam Pomfrey while James hurried off to alert Dumbledore.

"Good heavens, they're beaten to the core!" Pomfrey exclaimed upon finishing her examinations. "Just what have these children been doing?"

"I wish I knew," Lily sighed, her shoulders slumping. "They just appeared on the lawn!"

"Their magical reserves are nearly drained! A little more and they could very likely die!"

"What?" Lily gasped, horrified at the severity of the situation.

_What on earth could they have been doing to cause that?_ she thought to herself, looking at the patients with terror in her eyes. The two girls had been put on the opposite side of the room from the boys, although the girl and boy with red hair appeared to be siblings. The other three did not appear to have any relations with one another. However, the black-haired boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead looked extremely familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out why. As she pondered this, the doors opened and Dumbledore strode in, James hot on his heels.

"Are they okay?" James asked, panting slightly.

"Poppy says that their magical reserves were drained to the point of near death," Lily whispered, burying her face in her husband's chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "Who would do that to mere _children_?"

"I don't know, love," James murmured, stroking her back soothingly.

"This is a grave situation indeed," Dumbledore mused, gazing at the five figures inquisitively. "Poppy, my dear, will you be able to help them?"

"Of course, Albus, all they need is a good, long sleep," Madam Pomfrey stated, bustling around the beds with potions and wand in hand. "Their injuries were minimal. Sleep is the only remedy for the lack of magic, I'm afraid. I'll be sure to monitor their progress so none of them take a turn for the worse,"

"Well then, we'll just have to leave them in Poppy's capable hands until they wake up," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together. "James, Lily, I assure you that I will inform you the instant they wake. Now, if I recall correctly, you two had planned a wonderful afternoon tea, so why don't you return to that, hm?"

Dumbstruck, James merely nodded before leading a shell-shocked Lily back outside. He gently settled her into her chair and only once he sat as well did she come back to life.

"I _wish_ I knew who did that to them," she growled, hands clenched into fists. "No one has the right to do that to children and leave them like that!"

"Lily, my love, I'm quite sure that our good friend Albus is currently working on that as we speak," James commented. "He'll fill us in when he discovers something so for now just drink your tea and relax. It's a beautiful day and it'd be a waste to let it pass without enjoying it,"

"You're right," she sighed, reaching out and picking up the teacup James had filled for her.

"I always am," he replied cheekily with his classic smirk.

"You dolt," she giggled, enjoying the easy banter as it eased her nerves. "The world doesn't revolve around you, you know,"

"Nope, my whole world revolves around you, love," he stated promptly, a loving smile on his face.

"James Potter, you say the corniest things," she laughed.

"Only because I get to see that beautiful smile of yours every time I do," he said, leaning across the table and kissing his wife gently on the lips. "Now hurry up and drink that tea before it gets cold,"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Well, here's the next installment! Please tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I don't own Harry Potter and company! Wish I did, and yet I don't.

* * *

"Dad, where is Mum?" a timid voice inquired, drawing James' attention away from the section of the _Daily Prophet_ he was reading. Glancing up, he saw his fourteen-year-old daughter standing there, biting her lower lip.

"She's mostly likely in the hospital wing," he said after a moment's thought.

"Why? Did she get hurt?" Rose gasped, turning as if to rush off.

"Hold on a second there," James said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. "Your mother is perfectly fine,"

"Then why is she in the hospital wing?" his daughter demanded, reminding him so much of her mother when she was fourteen.

"Yesterday, your mother and I found five people unconscious and badly hurt out on the lawn," he explained, releasing his hold on her. "She's just very concerned for them because they had a close brush with death. They're doing fine but you know your mother. She won't leave their side until they wake up,"

"Can I go see her?" she requested and James didn't have the heart to tell her no.

"I'll walk with you," he suggested and so the two headed off to the hospital wing together. They found Lily sitting beside the boy with the scar, a worn expression on her face.

"Hello, love," James breathed, resting a hand gently on her shoulder. "Rose was beginning to worry about you," Lily looked up at her daughter with a tired smile.

"I hadn't seen you all day," Rose mumbled, flushing red while shifting her feet back and forth.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Lily sighed. "Albus and I talked and he mentioned something about this boy's scar. It was apparently caused by similar reasons to Neville Longbottom and I just couldn't leave him alone,"

"So young and yet already marked," James murmured, rubbing Lily's shoulders soothingly. "It must've been hell for them, whatever it was,"

"He's just a child," she whispered, reaching over and brushing his bangs tenderly to the side to reveal the lightning bolt.

"It looks just like Neville's did," Rose whimpered, trying to blink back her tears.

"Well, whoever he is, he is _not_ going to get any better with you two sniveling at his bedside," James commented, causing both women to glare at him. "It's true and you know it!"

"That makes it no less better for you to say so, James Potter," Lily stated, making to get up when suddenly the boy's eyes flew open and he had a wand in hand. James reacted on pure battle instincts, shoving Lily and Rose behind him as he drew his own wand. The boy hurled a hex their way, which exploded off of James' shield with a loud _bang_, waking the other four. James was slightly awed that in a matter of seconds, they were all standing behind the scarred boy, wands out and ready.

The red-haired girl was safely behind the boy's arm and the red-haired boy was standing in front of the other girl, taking a protective stance that looked far too natural for someone his age. The remaining boy reminded him scarily of the deceased Neville Longbottom, only this one had battle-hardened eyes.

However, he was mostly focused on the fact that the first boy has _his_ Lily's eyes and also _his_ untidy hair.

"Don't move," the boy warned, no humor whatsoever in his tone.

"Now wait just a minute," James protested, taking a slight step forward unconsciously.

"I said don't move," he growled, his wand never moving from pointing toward the family of three.

"Now son-"

"_Don't call me that_!" the boy spat and James was surprised at the raw anguish that now engulfed his expression. "I don't know how the hell he did this, but don't you _dare_ call me _son_. You've probably just another thing he's thrown our way to torture me,"

"No one here wants to hurt any of you!" Lily protested, stepping around James despite his warnings not to. "James and I found you five unconscious out on the grounds yesterday,"

"Harry, this looks like the hospital wing," the red-haired girl whispered, glancing at her companion.

"Then he's done a bloody good job this time," the boy, apparently named Harry, snarled. "Hogwarts is destroyed, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," she whimpered, her voice thick with emotion.

"In case you haven't noticed, Hogwarts is most definitely standing," James commented dryly. "Did you lot hit your heads too hard or something?"

"Dad, don't egg him on!" Rose hissed from behind her father.

"What is going on here?"

James nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Minerva McGonagall's voice from behind. In the brief second before he whipped his head around, he noticed all the teens faces pale drastically.

"Ah, Minerva, it seems our patients woke up," James stated, never lowering his wand.

"I could see that already, James. What I want to know is why you all are banishing wands at one another," she demanded.

"He started it," James said, jerking his head back toward the group of huddled teens.

"James Potter, you sound like a _child_!" Lily snapped when someone on the other side of the room squeaked. All heads turned to see the red-haired girl staring at the boy beside her with wide eyes.

"Harry…" she whispered.

"It's not them," he replied flatly. "They've been dead for sixteen years now. This is all something Voldemort came up with to bloody screw with my head,"

"Mate, they look _exactly_ like they did in that picture you showed me," the red-haired boy commented. "Who else would they be?"

"You can't bring the bloody dead back to life, Ron!" Harry exploded, rounding to face his companion and momentarily forgetting their audience. "If you could, then I would've brought them back years ago!"

"Both of you, shut it," the other girl commanded and surprisingly both boys listened. "Now, there has to be some sort of logical explanation behind this,"

"A logical explanation behind what?" McGonagall inquired.

"The fact that the people standing before us are allegedly dead," the girl supplied calmly. "And also that Hogwarts is still standing, so that must mean we're either in the past or somewhere entirely different,"

"Like I said earlier, did you lot hit your heads too hard or what?" James repeated. "This castle hasn't fallen ever. Why do you keep insisting that it has?"

"Cause we watched it get destroyed brick by brick as Voldemort tore it down," Harry said.

"You don't fear the Dark Lord's name?" McGonagall asked.

"Why should I?" Harry snorted. "It's not like _not_ saying it won't make him stop from trying to kill me,"

"My, isn't this exciting,"

James whipped his head around yet again, this time however, because Dumbledore had spoken behind him.

"He _really_ wants to mess with me," Harry snarled, sounding shaken now.

"My dear boy, might I inquire as to _who_ exactly wants to mess with you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Harry, I don't think this is _his_ doing," the brown-haired girl said softly.

"It has to be! They're all supposed to be dead!" he protested.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm feeling very much alive at the moment," James commented.

"Harry, something obviously happened when that burst of light hit us," the girl persisted. "Voldemort can't do something like that. I don't think where we are has anything to do with him at all,"

"Then where the bloody hell are we?"

"Most likely in another time stream," she stated, just as calm as when she had proclaimed everyone in the room supposedly dead. "One where Hogwarts still stands and Voldemort hasn't won yet,"

"That is quite an interesting theory, child," Dumbledore said. "Perhaps you would care to explain why you believe so?"

"Well, for starters, Lily and James there have been dead for nearly sixteen years," she began, causing said people to go rigid and Rose to cry out in alarm, scrambling to hold onto her mother. "Professor Dumbledore, you died last year after Professor Snape killed you, and Professor McGonagall, you fell when Hogwarts fell. Also, I don't even think Voldemort could come up with something this elaborate on his own, so another time stream is the only other option,"

"Hermione, I don't even want to _know_ how many books you read to come up with that explanation," the red-haired boy, whom Harry had called Ron, muttered under his breath.

"That still doesn't prove anything," Harry snapped.

"Then would you believe me if they swore it over a truth rod?" she inquired, pulling a wooden rod out of her too small bag.

"Good heavens, child, where did you acquire such a thing?" McGonagall gasped. "There are only five of those in existence!"

"Yes, yes, but I need you to tell us your names while touching this, if you don't mind," she instructed, stepping out in front of their group and holding it out for someone to take.

Dumbledore glided forward and gently took it from her hand. He tapped it with his wand and seemingly glanced warily at the girl.

"Your names," she repeated, and after a nod from the Headmaster, every adult in the room did as she said, stating their names and professions. When James and Lily did so, Harry collapsed onto one of the beds, his head in his hands. The red-haired girl moved to wrap her arms around his shaking shoulders and the other girl sighed heavily.

"Now then, might you be so kind as to tell us _your_ names?" Dumbledore requested with his usual smile back in place.

"Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter," she said, motioning to each person as she said their name, starting with herself.

Lily let out a strangled sob at the mentioning of the last boy, burying her face in James' chest as he attempted to keep his emotions under control. Every last person this Hermione girl had mentioned were long since dead, herself included.

"Well, my dear, I must say that you spin an interesting tale," the Headmaster commented.

"And why's that, Professor?"

"Oddly enough, as you have said that we are all dead to you, you five have allegedly died to us years previous,"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Third chapter is up! I'm just cranking it out! Granted, it's Sunday and I have absolutely nothing better to do cause my horse dumped me twice on Friday flat on my back and so it freakin hurts to move, but other than that! School resumes tomorrow, so the chapters will be slower coming forth but I'll do my best!

**Disclaimer:** Alas, still, Harry Potter is not mine! Still, enjoy!

* * *

"I'm dead?" Harry repeated, looking up at the Headmaster in disbelief. He was careful to keep his gaze away from the two people who were supposedly his parents. "Then who's going to kill Voldemort?"

"Who is going to kill Voldemort, you ask?" Dumbledore said. "We don't currently know. Do you?"

"I'm the one he bloody marked! Who else could?"

"Harry, this isn't our world," Hermione soothed, causing him to turn and glare at her. "We have to assume things are different here. You aren't their Boy-Who-Lived,"

"Yeah, mate. Voldemort probably already did off with the lot of us," Ron commented casually, which resulted in a moan from the other side of the room.

"Ronald, manners!" Hermione hissed, hitting him on the back of the head. Stealing himself, Harry looked at the woman claiming to be Lily Potter and found her sobbing into the chest of the man named James Potter.

"Harry, my little Harry," she was whimpering, repeating the phrase over and over again. The girl who looked like a miniature image of Lily appeared to be near tears herself.

"The only two of you who we know for a fact were killed by Voldemort himself are you, Mr. Potter, and your companion Mr. Longbottom, although your deaths were years apart from one another," Dumbledore explained. "Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger unfortunately met their end in the beginning of their first year at Hogwarts when a troll managed to find its way into the castle-"

"You mean that stupid troll I hit on the head with its own club?" Ron interjected.

"And Miss Weasley threw herself off of the Owlery tower in her first year," the Headmaster concluded, as though Ron hadn't interrupted him.

"So did Harry die first or did Neville?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Mr. Potter, when he was only a year old,"

"Well, obviously because Harry wasn't there to save us in first year, we didn't escape that troll, although I wonder why you came after me in the first place, Ron," Hermione mused. "And the same with Ginny. Harry couldn't rescue you from that diary of Tom's if he was already dead," Said girl whimpered slightly at the thought, pressing closer to Harry who in turn wrapped an arm protectively around her waist. "How exactly did Harry and Neville die, by the way?"

"Voldemort managed to work his way past the shields placed around the Potters house and kill the infant Harry when his parents weren't there before attempting to do the same with Neville. However, Alice and Frank Longbottom gave their lives for their son and in turn Voldemort was destroyed upon trying to kill the boy. Thirteen years later, when the Dark Lord regained his body, Neville was killed attempting to hold him at bay," Dumbledore supplied.

"Was it Pettigrew who helped Voldemort kill me?" Harry asked. "Cause it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he did,"

"My dear boy, you are exactly right," the Headmaster said, surprise evident in his tone. "Did something similar happen to you?"

"You could say that," he replied bitterly. "Only my parents ended up getting killed and Sirius landed in Azkaban because that _rat_ framed him!"

"You've met Pettigrew?" James demanded, his tone harsh.

"I killed him," Harry stated flatly. "Along with Bellatrix for killing Sirius,"

"Uncle Sirius is dead?" the unnamed girl gasped, tears now rolling down her cheeks.

"No, baby, Sirius is fine," Lily assured her, moving from James' embrace to wrap her arms around the girl. "Nothing has happened to him,"

"Sirius is alive?" Harry croaked, looking at the woman with wide eyes. She blinked and looked at him almost hesitantly before nodding. He bit back a choking sob and bowed his head, fighting to keep in control. Ginny mutely wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face in the crook of her neck, his silent tears rolling onto her skin.

"Well, there are obviously a lot of differences between our world and yours," Hermione said, taking charge. "Perhaps we should discuss them so as not to confuse each other?"

"A marvelous idea, my dear," Dumbledore applauded. "Shall we move to my office then?"

"Ron, Neville, come with me. Ginny, stay here with Harry," Hermione instructed to which Ron protested.

"Oi! I'm gonna stay here with-"

"Ron, please?" Hermione whispered, looking vulnerable for a second and Ron's expression hardened. He nodded briskly and that was the end of that.

"See you in a few, mate," he said, patting Harry once on the shoulder before following Hermione and Dumbledore out of the hospital wing, Neville right behind them. McGonagall wasted no time in leaving either, resulting in Ginny and Harry being left with the three remaining people.

"Harry, are you gonna be okay?" Ginny asked softly. The boy shuddered, pressing his face harder against her before drawing slowly back.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, his voice rough.

"Everything will be just fine, you'll see," she assured him. "Hermione'll see to that, just watch,"

"She always does," Harry said with a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle, which was more than enough for a smile to spread across Ginny's lips.

"So, Harry James Potter, I presume?"

The two jerked apart at the sound of James' voice very nearby. When Harry looked up, he saw the man standing not five feet away, arms crossed and expression stormy. Wordlessly, he stood and placed himself in front of Ginny who stood as well.

"I must say, you _do_ look like me in my younger years, but you definitely have-"

"My mum's eyes," Harry cut him off. "Yeah, I know, although everyone says I acted more like my father,"

"_Really_? Must be true, seeing as little Rosie inherited her mother's brain and charm. It's only fair that my son is like me," James mused, nodding his head slightly. "Gryffindor, I'm assuming?"

"Pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat my second year," he replied stiffly, causing James to blink.

"_The_ Gryffindor sword? Blimey, what caused _that_ to happen?"

"Voldemort had used Ginny to open the Chamber and I needed to kill the basilisk in order to save her," From behind him, Ginny reached forward and threaded their fingers together. "Granted, he's already tried to kill me multiple times as it is, although that was only the third time,"

"Voldemort's tried to _kill_ you?" Lily choked out on the other side of the room. "Multiple times?"

"Harry's the Chosen One, Voldemort marked him as his equal," Ginny said, squeezing slightly. "Voldemort wants to k-k-kill him because Harry's the only one who can kill him,"

"Just like Neville," James breathed, his expression briefly far away.

"Neville?"

"Well," James coughed. "Neville Longbottom was our Chosen One up until a few years ago," He trailed off, clearly not wanting to continue that statement.

"When Voldemort finished him off," Harry finished for him, glancing at the girl Lily was holding close when she whimpered softly.

"Yes, well, that's a tender subject for our family,"

"Sorry," Harry muttered, eyes downcast. James cleared his throat, recognizing the awkwardness created.

"Now then, should I assume that you've gotten into as much trouble as me?" he inquired, which caused a small smile to appear on Harry's lips.

"Yeah, I did," he chuckled, pausing for a moment before adding, "Prongs,"

"Merlin's beard, where'd you learn about _that_?" James gasped, clearly thrown for a loop.

"Fred and George Weasley gave me the map my third year," Harry shrugged. "Sirius and Lupin explained it in a bit more depth later on,"

"Blimey!" James stood there with a lopsided smile on his face, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. Across the room, Lily rose to her full height and walked over to stand in front of Harry, her brow furrowed.

"You look just like him," she murmured almost sadly. Harry jerked his chin up slightly, jaw locked. "The same unruly hair too," she chuckled softly. Reaching out her hands, she cupped Harry's face tenderly who flinched slightly at her touch. "My little Harry," she whispered.

"Mum," Harry croaked, all his defenses crumbling to dust. With a sob, the woman pulled him into her arms, both of them crying.

"Shh, baby, it's okay," she soothed, rocking them back and forth. James stood and watched with a watery smile before wrapped his arms around the both of them, happy beyond belief at the fact that his son had returned, while the two girls locked eyes with each other. Both were crying but they also had smiles on their faces and in that instant, a bond of friendship and sisterhood was formed.

* * *

Miles away, in a topsy-turvy house, Molly Weasley was busily scrubbing away at the dirty dishes in her sink. She was startled when a phoenix settled on her windowsill, a letter tied to its leg. Drying her hands, she hesitantly took the letter that bore the Headmaster's stamp from Hogwarts. Not sure of what it could be, seeing as her rambunctious twins had graduated two years previous, her expression hardened. However, upon reading its contents, all the color drained from her face and her hands were trembling.

"They're alive," she whispered, the parchment becoming slightly crushed between her fingers before she realized what she was doing. In a flurry of motion, she scrambled for her traveling cape before hurrying to the fireplace, Floo Powder in hand.


End file.
